Manchester United will begin the defence of their Barclays Premier League title at home to Newcastle and end it with a trip to newly promoted Hull City on May 24. The champions will face Liverpool and Chelsea away on successive weekends, September 13 and 20, before visiting Arsenal on November 8. They will host Chelsea on January 10, Liverpool on March 14 and Arsenal on May 16 - the penultimate weekend of the season.

The new Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, meanwhile, starts with a home game as last year's runners-up entertain FA Cup winners Portsmouth. Chelsea face Liverpool at home on October 25 and Arsenal at home on November 29. They visit Anfield on January 31, the Emirates on May 9 and are away to Sunderland on the final day of the season.

Of the top sides, Arsenal look to have the easiest opening- and closing-day fixtures: West Brom visit on August 16, while their fellow-promoted side Stoke City make the trip south on May 24. Arsenal play Liverpool at home on December 20 and away on April 18.

Liverpool begin their campaign away to Sunderland and face a final-day home game with Tottenham.

As well as their tough start to the season away at Arsenal, West Brom fans will be looking forward to trips to Manchester United on October 18, Liverpool on November 8 and Chelsea on Boxing Day. They are at home to Chelsea on November 15, Manchester United on January 27, Arsenal on March 3 and Liverpool on May 16.

"It's a great start for us to be playing against Arsenal," Baggies defender Paul Robinson said. "It's always going to be a difficult season for us coming back up. We will go into pre-season and the manager will work really hard with us. If you stay in the Premier League you can just build on that year after year."

Stoke begin their season with an away fixture against Bolton and finish up with a final day trip to Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal. The Stoke director of football, John Rudge, promised fans that the club are chasing transfer targets ahead of the new season: ''We know full well we need that little bit of extra strength and quality. We will be searching high and low to get those extra couple of players to come here.'' Of the Boxing Day home fixture against Manchester United, Rudge said: "That will be a tough match for us but a really exciting adventure for everyone at the club.''

Hull fans can look forward to a home match with Fulham on August 16 and a final-day meeting with Manchester United. The Hull manager, Phil Brown, joked: "It's a great fixture to have on the last day of the season. Let's hope I'm still in a job.''